Monthly Archives: September 2013

Post navigation

Mia Darien is the force behind the ‘Here Kitty Kitty’ Anthology. She had this fantastic idea, got in touch with other writers (which astoundingly included me), she designed the cover AND she’s editing/formatting the book. Oh! She’s also a pretty awesome paranormal romance/historical romance/sci fi writer. I’ve included a link to her site here. If you are into paranormal romance and shapeshifters, I am confident you would love Mia’s writing generally AND the ‘Here Kitty Kitty’ story collection. Have a look. Have a read. It will be fun. I promise. Go on….

“Here, Kitty Kitty” is an anthology of six paranormal romance short stories featuring exotic cat shapeshifters. The anthology is slated for release October 6th, 2013. All profits from this anthology will go to charity to benefit the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Indiana. Each week leading up to the release I’ll be putting the spotlight on one of the authors who have contributed to this project.Here Kitty, Kitty Author Spotlight: Mia Darien

Featured Feline: Siberian TigerStory: The Distance Between She’s traveled thousands of miles, looking for a safe place. He’s brought her thousands of miles, looking to not be lonely any more. But they both have secrets. Can they bridge the distance between, and find what they’re looking for in each other?Author Interview: Mia is the creative and driving force behind the anthology. The idea was hers and then she worked to gather authors to contribute, designed the cover, is doing all the editing. Huge thank you to Mia for such a great idea and all her hard work! 1. What inspired you to write about Siberian Tiger shifters? Even before this anthology, were-tigers were always my favorite. Tigers have always been my favorite of the big cats, and as I love writing paranormal, I enjoyed combining the two. Plus the idea of a person with a big cat inside, so to speak, just sounded like fun to write.2. Why is paranormal romance a favorite genre of yours? I love paranormal–vampires and werewolves and werekitties are all long time favorites–and I love romances in my stories, so it’s a great combination for me!3. Is this your first collaboration with other authors? And how did you like it? This is my first time orchestrating an anthology. I’ve worked with other authors on differing projects over the years, but being at the helm of something quite like this is new. It’s been a bit of work, but overall fun, because I love collaboration with other authors and hope to do more of that in the future.4. Tell us about your works in progress.

Funnily enough, I’m going to soon be working on the fifth book in my Adelheid series, which features the main character as Vance Johnston, who is…surprise, surprise…a weretiger! Otherwise, I’ll soon have a sequel to my story “Sanctuary” coming out, and continue to slog away at my high fantasy novel.5. What inspired this anthology project? I prefer to read when I fly anywhere, and on my last time flying back to Connecticut (to see my family), I read “The Ridge” by Michael Kortya. It had one of its main locations as a big cat rescue. I’ve always been enchanted with big cats, like many people, and he wrote them so beautifully. There was one scene between a caretaker and his favorite tiger that nearly had me in tears. If I hadn’t been on a plane, I would’ve been balling.But anyways, at the end of the book, Kortya talks about having had the chance to volunteer with the EFRC in Indiana. When I got home, I read up on them more and thought they were a great organization. As I can’t afford to donate as much as I’d like and I don’t live in Indiana, so I can’t volunteer, I thought about what I could do. I’m a writer, so I thought about writing. Kind of on a whim, I just threw the anthology idea out to out to some author friends.Honestly? I thought none of them would have any time. We’re all busy with our non-writing lives, most of them were/are finishing big projects, but almost all of them jumped on it. I was so heartened by that, it became a really exciting process and now not only do I get to find a way to donate to a good cause, but also bring some really awesome stories to readers.Author Bio: Mia Darien is an indie author of speculative fiction, and a New England Yankee transplanted into Alabama clay. No matter her geography, she continues to stubbornly and rebelliously live the life of her choosing along with her family and pets. She doesn’t miss the snow.Social Media:

Mia Darien was kind and coordinated enough to gather the information regarding the stories and contributing authors (including myself) in Here Kitty Kitty.

“His Jaguar Princess” by A. Star [Shape shifter type: Jaguar]

The Story: Jaguar shifter Selene Peters can’t deny her feelings for the tycoon Lucas King. Somehow, he’s penetrated her barriers and become more than just a client, but loving a human is dangerous and she fears her past repeating itself. Could he help her overcome the past or will she sacrifice her happiness and succumb to it? Not if he has anything to say about it…

Author Bio: A. Star is a pseudonym of Diantha Jones, who was born the day thousands of turkeys sacrificed their lives to fill millions of American bellies on November 22 which also happened to be Thanksgiving Day (Her mother says she owes her a turkey). She is a Journalism graduate who wants to be a career novelist (of books, not Facebook posts). When not writing or working, she is reading on her Nook, being hypnotized by Netflix or on a mission to procure french fries. She is the author of The Oracle of Delphi series and Mythos: Stories from Olympus. Under A. Star, she has released Invasion, and future releases include the Love & Steampunk series, the Purr, Inc. stories, and more.

The Story: When Mira’s privacy and independence are threatened, she can be very nasty. Daniel is an expert on American mountain lions. His assistance is requested after an ‘incident’ on Mira’s front lawn. When the two meet, they recognise each other in more than one way.

Author Bio: Jessica Nicholls is originally from Northern Illinois. She lived in the Northwest of England for just over ten years, where she studied and had her children. Currently, Jessica lives in the Middle East with her husband and two now school age (yay!) kids. Running, reading and watching films are her favourite hobbies. Writing the type of stories she would enjoy reading (anything dark and weird or romantic, or a combination of those) is a passion.

The Story: Kimani, a breeder with the power to preserve the human race, must depend on her guardian, Ahkil, a black panther shifter with more than one reason to distrust humans, but his secrets could change the course of her life forever.

Author Bio: Dariel loves books, animals, and all things paranormal. Dariel has written articles for The News Item of Mobile, and Black Health Magazine of Atlanta. A classically trained pianist and vocalist with a degree in piano and vocal performance and a master’s in counseling psychology, she completed studies for a Ph.D. with the exception of her dissertation, and finally stopped due to kidney failure/dialysis. She is presently writing a shifter romance series, “Dark Sentinels,” and two Nephilim series, “The Alerians” and “Children of Cain.” Lives with two large dogs and a passel of black cats. To learn more about Dariel and her books, visit her blog.

The Story: She’s traveled thousands of miles, looking for a safe place. He’s brought her thousands of miles, looking to not be lonely any more. But they both have secrets. Can they bridge the distance between, and find what they’re looking for in each other?

Author Bio: Mia Darien is an indie author of speculative fiction, and a New England Yankee transplanted into Alabama clay. No matter her geography, she continues to stubbornly and rebelliously live the life of her choosing along with her family and pets. She doesn’t miss the snow.

The Story: Cougar shifters have allied into groups, together in a rocky alliance to protect themselves against other shifters. Hannah Keller becomes the targeted Mate for Kyle Carstairs, the treacherous soon-to-be Alpha of another group. Meanwhile, Nick Jensen, her childhood hero and longtime secret crush, has returned home with hopes of claiming Hannah for his own. But will he be in time to rescue her from the Carstairs’s schemes?

Author Bio: Award-winning author, Abigail Owen was born in Greeley, Colorado to a high school English teacher and a social worker. Abigail was raised in Austin, Texas and now resides in Northern California with her husband and two adorable children who are the center of her universe. Abigail grew up consuming books and exploring the world through her writing. A fourth generation graduate of TexasA&MUniversity, she attempted to find a practical career related to her favorite pastime by obtaining a degree in Technical Writing. However, she swiftly discovered that writing without imagination is not nearly as fun as writing with it.

The Story: The full moon can get a girl stirred up, especially with a handsome cowboy paying her way too much attention. If it wasn’t for those damned werewolves causing trouble and getting in the way…

Author Bio: I grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, among writers, artists and weird Hispanic and Native American myths and folklore. I’ve lived all over the U.S. and earned a living doing everything from making silver and turquoise jewelry, to construction to computers. I currently live in Baltimore and Albuquerque.

Thank you Mia Darien for starting and coordinating this project. And thank you for asking me to contribute. The proceeds of this short story collection will go to an exotic feline rescue centre in Indiana. The website is http://www.exoticfelinerescuecenter.org/home.html I would encourage you to visit the site (and if you can the sanctuary!) where you can find information and photos of the beautiful animals who will benefit from your purchase of this anthology.

Mysterious wild animals have always captivated human imaginations. So to be able to acquire a collection of short romance stories involving characters who have a very literal ‘wild’ side, that’s just a whole heap of fun.

The quality of the contributing authors is outstanding. A. Star (aka Diantha Jones), Dariel Raye, Mia Darien, Abigail Owen, and BR Kingsolver know what they are doing when it comes to paranormal romance. I’m so happy to be contributing to the well being of the gorgeous big cats at the Exotic Feline Rescue Centre. And I cannot wait to read the other stories! So go on….Here Kitty Kitty Oct 6th.